Day One

An observation: Buenos Aires is more Euro than some places in Europe! On day one I spent a lot of time wandering around several neighborhoods, peoplewatching and trying to overhear snippets of conversation. Not only do most people look German/French/Spanish, they dress and act like they are as well. Honestly, I think there are fewer latino-looking people in some parts of this city than in my old Mission neighborhood in SF!

Other cool stuff: The Recoleta Cemetery, full of the giant mausoleums of Argentina´s moneyed elite from a hundred years ago, is something to behold. A whole little city of tombs, laid out in little neighborhoods, with hired keepers to clean and check up on the family patriarchs, and packs of semi-feral cats running around like they own the place. Strange...

Also, MALBA - the modern art museum (top) is a great place to spend a lazy afternoon. The multimedia installation with bossa nova music piped in from massive speakers, wall-sized video projections, and comfy mattresses on the floor was an especially nice find after several hours of walking around the city...

Today I´m off to find an apartment to rent for several weeks (gotta love Craigslist!) and enroll in spanish lessons. I´m also going to try and make it to La Casa Rosada to see if I can catch Evo Morales, Bolivia´s new president-elect, make his first state visit to Argentina on Kirchner´s invitation. Oh, and in other news, the newspapers are filled with articles about "la primera presidenta," Michelle Bachelet, the socialist woman who won Chile´s Sunday election, making her the continent´s first female president! Lots going on down here... will try to stay on top of it and keep these postings coming...